


Moonlight

by orphan_account



Category: Code:Realize ～創世の姫君～ | Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Love Confessions, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24180145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Victor gives Cardia a funny feeling in her chest but she hasn't the word to describe it.
Relationships: Cardia Beckford/Victor Frankenstein
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> I'm expanding out a little this time and testing the waters with the other characters... 
> 
> Enjoy ^.^

Cardia paced around the gardens of Saint-Germain’s manor. Her gaze fixed on the grass, and her mind was on overdrive.

This morning she’d woken to find Victor had left the manor. It was only to run errands, but she’d sat by the window awaiting his return, much to the amusement of her friends. She flicked idly through one of Victor’s alchemy compendiums to pass time. 

She was trying to impress him with her studies so that at their next class she could show Victor how far she was coming along with her theory, but nothing was sinking in, not when she was distracted. The closer she grew to Victor, the more she disliked being separated from him. Of course, she felt safer beside any of her friends, but Victor was different. He gave her a strange feeling inside and made her feel safe.

“Pacing won’t make his return any faster.” 

Cardia clutched her hands together, eyes focusing on Van Helsing as her mind returned to the present. She’d flattened the grass where she’d been repeatedly walking for so long. “I know… I just want to greet him when he gets home.”

“What? Why don’t I get Cardia greeting me when I come home?!” Impey overdramatically cried, before returning to normal and leaning against Lupin. 

“Victor certainly is lucky having someone to greet him. It’s very thoughtful of you,” Saint-Germain smiled pleasantly. 

Cardia smiled. Everything felt so normal now her friends were out here too. Or it did until Lupin smirked at her. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say our princess has fallen in love,” Lupin teased, patting Impey on the back as though to console him.

Cardia flushed, waving her hands in front of her. “I’m not in l-love!”

Van Helsing crossed his arms, looking bored by the conversation. “She can’t even say it…” he scoffed, walking around her and continuing towards the gate. “I’ll be back after I’ve gathered intel.” 

“If you see Victor, tell him how ungentlemanly it is to keep a girl waiting,” Lupin called after Van Helsing, earning him an acknowledging nod despite Van Helsing not turning around. 

Cardia chewed her lip, focusing on Lupin. “You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not in love with Victor. He’s…” She paused, unsure of how to finish that sentence. He was special to her. He made her heart race, and he was in all her waking thoughts. She missed him when he was gone too. That wasn’t love, was it? She’d never been in love, so she didn’t know.

When Saint-Germain hummed, she focused on him, hoping no one had noticed her rosy cheeks, but he merely smiled, giving no indication to what he was thinking. 

It was Lupin who stepped forward though, his cheeky smirk gone in place of a serious expression. “Victor’s special to you, isn’t he?”

She nodded. Too embarrassed to meet Lupin’s eyes. 

“More so than anyone else?” 

“... Yes,” Cardia whispered, though she didn’t know if it was loud enough for Lupin to hear, but when Impey whined and muttered about how lucky Victor was, he answered her doubts for her. 

Lupin said nothing at first except rest a hand on her shoulder and wait for her to look at him. 

She was reluctant, but she did as Lupin wanted and held his gaze, noting how mature he seemed in this moment, a far cry from the cheeky behaviour he was known for. “Lupin…?”

“You should tell him.”

~

Those words echoed around her mind. Over the course of the next few days, every time she saw Victor she nervously tried to build up the courage to say something, often catching the knowing look Lupin wore over Victor’s shoulder. When they were apart, she would replay their conversations in her mind, imagining how different the outcome could have been if she’d just said something. Anything to ease this strange ache in her chest. 

On the sixth day, Victor wasn’t at breakfast. Again, he was running errands, and she spent hours fretting over the worst possible scenarios. 

She missed him. 

Even if she couldn’t physically touch him, his warmth touched her in places no one else ever had. 

Victor didn’t return until after dusk, and even then, he seemed quieter than usual, avoiding questions and Cardia accepted tonight wouldn’t present any opportunities to speak with him. 

Rather than return to her room, she ventured out into the garden, sitting on the grass and staring up at the moon. She reached out, cupping it in her hands and for the first time, she could understand why Impey wanted to go there; the moon was so beautiful and inviting. Its light had a way of making everything seem serene, even when she had a heavy heart. 

“You should be careful, it’s cold out tonight.”

Before she knew it, Victor carefully wrapped his lab coat around her shoulders and sat beside her. 

“I should have asked first, but is it okay if I sit here with you?” he asked, sitting crossed legged and leaning back on his hands. His focus was on her, wearing his usual sweet smile.

Cardia nodded, pulling Victor’s lab coat around her a little tighter, careful not to let it touch her neck or face. “I was just thinking about you…”

“About me?” Victor said taken aback, before laughing and running a hand through his hair, disturbing his glasses. “I didn’t expect you to say that…”

_It’s what I do most nowadays._

“Um… I thought that you looked sad tonight,” she whispered, avoiding what she really wanted to say. 

“Oh. Yeah. I guess I was…” Victor responded, scratching his cheek before looking across at her. “... but I’m fine now, so there’s no need to worry about me.” He held her gaze for a few moments before casting his focus up at the moon. “I’m sorry. I guess when we’ve all been through so much, it’s a little difficult not to worry.”

“That’s… not exactly why I worry about you,” Cardia said, shuffling to find a comfortable position, looking anywhere but at Victor. 

“... It’s not?”

She bit her lip, finding her resolve to shake her head. “It’s because I…” _love_ , “… care about you.”

To her dismay, Victor laughed, beaming across at her. “I understand. I care about you all too. We’ve all grown close in such a short space of time. It’s natural to pick these things up about each other.”

“That’s not it either,” Cardia said, looking at Victor as sincerely as possible, watching the smile on his face fade to a puzzled expression. “The way I care about you, it’s not how I do about the others. It’s… Well, I…” She hung her head, fiddling with Victor’s lab coat. “... When you smile, it makes me smile, and when you look sad, it makes me feel sad too… On days you’re not here, I feel lonely, but when you come home, I feel complete again- Huh?”

She looked up in surprise to where Victor’s gloved hand rested on top of her head. She could feel his warmth, even though it was faint. 

“Victor?” she questioned, looking at him to see his bashful smile. Even in this light, she could tell he was blushing. 

He shrugged, leaning forward to press a kiss to her shoulder, ruffling her hair accidentally as he did so, but when he pulled away, remaining close enough for Cardia to admire how softly he looked at her, it made her heart pound. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Well, when you say those things and make me know how much you love me, I have to show you how much I love you too, right?” he answered, tilting his head to the side. “I love you, Cardia.”

Her heart pounded. Hearing Victor say those words to her was better than she’d imagined, and the warmth that spread through her body in this moment was unlike anything else she’d ever experienced.

Smiling in his direction, Cardia’s gaze softened, and she uttered the words she’d been too nervous to say. “I love you too, Victor…”


End file.
